Lesson 2: Pest Identification Case Study

Topic 3: Verifying and Identifying

If you do happen to find a pest of significance, you will need to gather ample evidence to support any plant protection action taken.

Objectives:

To understand the importance of verifying the identification results with more testing.
To understand the need to gather trustworthy evidence in support of any action needed to address the pest.

Importland now knows that the preliminary testing suggests Bdt may be present in at least one barumba berry farm. Use the timeline that follows to find out what happens next.

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This testing step is critical because solid evidence is needed to support any action taken to protect agricultural production. The reliability of the information sources on new pest reports must also be considered (see International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures [ISPM] 8). Some sources of information are more dependable than others, and in many situations, you need the most dependable information you can get. If the threat is serious enough, drastic action may be needed to contain or eradicate dangerous pests. Actions such as prohibiting the sale of produce from affected farms, destroying sections of orchards, or even burning entire fields are burdensome and extremely unpopular. They require very convincing evidence from reliable, authoritative sources for people to agree that extreme action is required.

Consider the chart that follows. Notice how the source of information used during the identification process influences perceptions of the reliability and trustworthiness of the final identification.

	Sources of Information
	Collector/Identifier	Technical identification	Location/Date	Recording/Publication
↑ + MORE Reliability LESS – ↓	Taxonomic specialist	Discriminating biochemical or molecular test	Delimiting or detection surveys	NPPO record/RPPO (Regional Plant Protection Organization) publication (only if peer-reviewed)
	Professional specialist/diagnostician	Specimen or culture maintained in official collection; taxonomic description by specialist	Other field or production surveys	Peer-reviewed scientific or refereed technical journal
	Scientist	Specimen in general collection	Casual or incidental field observation, possibly with no defined location/date	Official historical record
	Technician	Description and photo	Observation with or in products or by-products; interception	Scientific or technical journal (not peer-reviewed)
	Expert amateur	Visual description only	Precise location and date not known	Specialist amateur publication
	Nonspecialist	Method of identification not known		Unpublished scientific or technical document
	Collector/identifier not known			Nontechnical publication
				Personal communication; unpublished

A printable copy of this chart is available on the Documents page.

In this next activity, using the information from the chart above, drag the boxes to rank the reports of new pests in order from MOST reliable to LEAST reliable. When you are finished, check your answers by clicking “Show Correct Ordering”.

Notice that the most reliable identifications are made by formally trained experts using scientific methods to identify the pests. The least reliable sources either do not involve a formally trained expert or use identification methods that are not rigorous.

Some sources of pest identification evidence are more trusted than others. Remember, the more trusted the source, the more convincing you can be in recommending regulatory action.

To continue, select Topic 4 from the Topics menu above or click here.